Do you smell that in the air? Football season is getting closer. Things are getting ready to open up in Flowery Branch, Ga. so here we go!. Yes, it’s time for another heaping pile of Atlanta Falcons “Bird Droppings”. Little tid-bits, rants, factoids, and snippets from around the Falcons camp and the rest of the NFL. Roll up your pant legs, and lets see what’s new.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is helping Make-A-Wish Georgia launch a special fundraising campaign. Make-A-Wish Georgia grants wishes to children with terminal or life-threatening diseases. There are currently more than 620 children in Georgia waiting for their wishes to be granted, and the fundraiser which took place at the St. Regis in Atlanta was seeking to raise $2.5 million to help reduce the current waiting period of up to two years for wishes to be granted. The event brought together Atlanta area philanthropists and celebrities, and was hosted by former Falcon Coy Wire.

The Falcons and franchise-tagged CB Brent Grimes were not able to come together on a multi-year deal prior to Monday’s deadline. That leaves several outcomes for the situation in 2013. The Falcons could tag Grimes again, or they could sign him to a multi-year contract, or let Grimes go to unrestricted free agency. It would seem unlikely that Atlanta would tag Grimes again, as it would cost over $12 million for a 1-year salary. And with the money the Falcons already have set aside to pay Asante Samuel and Dunta Robinson at the same position, it would also seem just as unlikely that they’ll offer a multi-year deal with Grimes. So, that leaves door number three.

The Atlanta Falcons are ranked No. 39 on the list of “The World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams,” according to Forbes magazine, with a value of $814 million. “The Falcons made the playoffs last season for a second straight year, giving them their first back-to-back playoff appearances in franchise history,” Forbes noted.

Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice believes that Julio Jones will be the league’s breakout pass-catcher for 2012. “I love this kid,” Rice said. “He’s awesome. He’s big, he’s fast. …I think he’s gonna have a breakout season this coming year.” If any of you want to debate with arguably the greatest receiver of all time, be my guest. I’ll side with Mr. Rice on this one.

New Falcons safety Chris Hope is already signing the praises of his new team, and sees them as a path to another Super Bowl ring to go along with the one he won with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “They have the makings of being a Super Bowl team,” Hope said. “I think that they are right there, knocking on the door. I feel like, for where I’m at in my career, I want to play for something. I don’t want to play for a check. I want to play for an opportunity to win another ring.”. Well…here’s “Hope-ing”!

Roddy White’s tweets about Joe Paterno and Penn State caused a bit of a stir in the Falcons camp. Since he deleted the “misunderstood” tweets that seemed to defend Paterno, Roddy has remained fairly quiet and safe in the social media world. White may need to take the actions that other celebrities have done, and either delete his twitter account, or hire a PR person to do his tweeting for him.